Mainly community service demanded against suspects of highway blockade

The Public Prosecutor demanded 6 months in prison against one of the 34 people suspected of blocking the A7 highway so that two buses carrying anti-Zwarte Piet protesters could not reach the national Sinterklaas arrival in Dokkum last year. The other 33 suspects face community service, NOS reports.

The prison sentence was demanded against one suspect due to a previous conviction. The Prosecutor said that all suspects must serve some form of punishment, because a fine would not do justice to the severity of the charges against them. The 34 people are suspected of preventing a legal demonstration and causing a dangerous situation by blocking the highway.

The 34 suspects all deny that they were the first to stop on the highway, and that they initiated the highway blockade. According to them, they did not know in advance what would happen, although they talked about it on Facebook and WhatsApp. They said they went to the A7 out of curiosity and ended up in a group of stationary cars by chance.